What to make of the metaverse

Human ingenuity is alive and well, thanks be to God! In the last century, and especially the last few decades, our technology has begun to assist and accelerate our creativity and ability to innovate and invent.

In fact, in his encyclical letter Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI notes, “Technology is a profoundly human reality, linked to the autonomy and freedom of man.”

This most recent decade has seen a convergence of many forms of technology to create new “wholes” that outweigh the “sum of their parts”. One such emerging innovation is the metaverse: “a fully realized digital world that exists beyond the one in which we live”.

In this two-part article, we will provide a basic explanation of the metaverse, how it should be viewed from a Catholic perspective, and explore its potential both for good and for evil. Finally, we will suggest some avenues for deeper study and immediate action.

What is the metaverse?

The metaverse is not one space. It is a network of virtual spaces that concentrate on social connections. We can think of games like ‘World of Warcraft’, and ‘Fortnite’ displaying elements of the metaverse, having a persistent virtual world, where players can buy and sell goods (including digital versions of real estate), attend concerts, and give a tour to their friends of their virtual homes. What can be said about the metaverse is that we have many competing versions at this time, but it is definitely the future of digital-to-human interface for the internet.

The term ‘metaverse’ can be attributed to Neal Stephenson and his novel Snow Crash that was released in the year 1992. Snow Crash is set in a 3D virtual reality world accessed through personal terminals and virtual reality goggles, similar to what Mark Zuckerberg’s version of the metaverse is today.

In Zuckerberg’s ‘Meta’,  persons access the virtual space via Facebook’s ‘Oculus Quest’, a pair of virtual reality goggles in essence.

To better understand the metaverse, listing its properties may add more clarity. The metaverse is real-time, persistent, synchronous, adds an individual sense of presence, 3D, and is building an economy of its own.

One can be themselves or can easily become someone else in the metaverse, by simply adjusting their avatar. The avatar is the digital presence of a person in an augmented reality. As previously stated, there are dozens of versions of the metaverse, with Facebook’s ‘Meta’ and fierce rival Microsoft at the forefront.

Before we delve into any discussion of the potential uses and dangers of the metaverse, it would be useful to establish some parameters to the discussion. First, let’s remember that Technology in and of itself has no inherent morality. In fact, Pope Benedict XVI explains that “Technology [in a sense] is a response to God’s command to till and keep the land”. It is how humans use technology that imbues the technological actions and outcomes with morality.

From a farmer’s plough, to a car, to the internet, technology can be a tool to  further authentic human development, or an enabler of human exploitation and degradation. In this regard,  reference of the AEC’s pastoral letter on the use of ICTs would be useful.

Secondly, we need to remember that our faith is grounded in the Incarnate God. Our Catholic faith is built in God’s creation, through Jesus’ incarnate life, suffering, death, and Resurrection, but also through the sacraments that He instituted using specific matter and form. A Catholic consideration of the metaverse must stay within the bounds of these two truths.

No inherent morality

Computing and telecoms can be a force for good or evil, depending on its users and stakeholders. The fact that information can be spread at the speed of light anywhere in the world poses both a problem and solution. It all comes down to intent.

The morality is not in the technology, but in the mind of the person who is making it their tool, which leads to the point that technology can be considered to be amoral.

Information technology is increasingly pervasive in the lives of persons worldwide. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a maturation of emerging technologies that have now gained mainstream acceptance, such as ‘Roblox’, Discord and video conferencing applications to aid in the stresses of communication posed by the pandemic.

These technologies have made it possible to have priests interact with their parishioners and even have Holy Mass through video conferencing applications, and enabled children to connect with their schoolmates whom they have not seen in a while, to socialise and play games.

On the other hand, applications like these have aided in persons crafting diabolical plans, from simple Zoom-bombing to co-ordinated terrorist recruiting and even to the burgeoning pornography industry, and a wide range of illegal trade.

The Islamic State is reported to have a Discord account used to spread their agenda, whilst pornographic scenes and avatars are freely available in the game ‘Roblox’, which is a metaverse in itself.

When broadly adopted, the metaverse will be an augmented world accessed using a see-through lens but can easily become an alternate life experience. Due to the vast number of pseudo-realities in the metaverse, and the more that are to come, there can be a fine line between what is real and what is not in that virtual/digital space.

As human beings, we all need food, clothing, and shelter, and so far, the metaverse can supply two thirds of our necessities. The metaverse allows one to purchase a digital twin of “real estate” that already exists in the physical world. The opportunity to own land virtually and develop it in the metaverse, is a contributing factor to many persons collecting crypto-currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Fashion brands have also introduced clothing for avatars, which can also be purchased using crypto-currency. Blockchain enabled digital currencies can be converted from traditional currency in the real world but can also be earned in the metaverse.

Whilst merely augmented at first, the metaverse can fast become a completely alternate reality for some.

In the second instalment of this two-part foray into the metaverse, we will discuss the implications for identity, and offer some recommendations for next steps.

Darnell Orr (Tech Doctor, Making technology work for you)

Gerard Andrews (actual metaverse citizen)

Robert Boopsingh (Technology practitioner in the Financial Services Sector)